EUR 200,000 funding for qualifying older citizens

The Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner, presented the allocation decision for the project "Qualifizierung älterer Beschäftigter in der Automobilbranche für den Umgang mit Hochvoltfahrzeugen" (Qualifying older employees in the automotive industry for dealing with high voltage vehicles) to the Forschungsinstitut Betriebliche Bildung (f-bb) gGmbH (Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training) and the Audi AG at the premises of Audi AG in Ingolstadt.

The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology supports the two-year research project with EUR 200,000. The project goal is to develop and test a continuing education concept that prepares older professionals in the automotive industry for working in the field of electromobility, the technology of the future. Especially electrical and metrological competences will be developed, based on the professional experience of older employees in automotive occupations and in a practice-oriented manner emulating the workshop scenario.

Because of the increasing focus on alternative means of propulsion, electromobility has become a decisive factor for the competitive capability of Bavaria as an automotive industry site. The change in technology places high qualification demands on the automotive industry's skilled labour force. Continuing education concepts for safe working on purely electric or hybrid vehicles must be provided as fast as possible, especially due to the potential danger inherent in working with electricity.

"Qualified employees are of decisive importance for the sustainable management of this change. Without doubt, the young generation of skilled workers will have to be qualified in handling high voltage technology already during their first vocational education and training course, for example, in the occupation of automotive mechatronics engineer. Given the demographic development, however, it is important to also pay increasing attention to the target group of older employees", said Herbert Loebe, Managing Director of the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e. V. (Training Institute of the Bavarian Industry, reg. ass.), upon receiving the allocation decision.

The f-bb supports the modernisation of the vocational education and training system by practice-oriented research. It develops concepts for in-company training activities in close co-operation with customers from the worlds of politics and industry.

The range of services comprises the implementation of design and transfer projects for in-company education, the compilation of case studies, empiric surveys and evaluations as well as the scientific support for funding programmes and model projects.

In its capacity as a major German research institute in the field of vocational education and training, the f-bb has increasingly looked into the issue of electromobility. The f-bb belongs to the group of companies forming the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e. V., a consortium of 24 education and consultancy firms as well as social service and human resource service providers with a total number of approximately 6,000 employees.